Hi there. I've got a decision to make about tyres. One back tyre needs replacing as it's getting low and Winter seems to be here already. The trouble is, I've always had a policy of matching tyres on the same axle. It's companion Dunlop SP Sportmaxx is less than a year old and still over 5mm but my regular garage can't get the tyre. They offered to replace it with a Falken (their go-to, I think) like the ones on the front which are even newer (ZIEX ZE310) but, as I say, I like tyres to match and I thought I'd investigate if there is anything better if I'm going to buy two.

Round where we live, there are bad roads and steep hills. There is one particular road I avoid if the temperature is sub zero because it is cobbled and steep and descends to a blind corner on a narrow main road so it's potentially curtains if you overshoot. I've turned into it by mistake more than once (because it's a good cut-through) on very cold days and only just managed to stop before the bottom with the ABS doing overtime.

I used to live in Scotland and Uniroyal rain tyres saw me through some horrendous weather - I nearly got Winter tyres fitted because I had to drive through so much snow one year - but that was the 80s when I knew people who made tyres and we still had proper snow.

I was doing some research on tyre reviews and, apart from Winter tyres, I didn't realise that most tyres seem to be rated Summer now. I could be wrong but back in the day weren't there just all season and winter tyres? Now it seems there are Summer, All Season and Winter. What I wonder is, should I be looking at an All Season tyre for better safety in the Winter months?

I'd value your opinions (the tyres are 215/45 R16 and the rear ones have an 86H rating while on the front, they are 90V).

Thank you,

Hilary

Have a look in the Tyre Section. Tyres are Summer & there are 'All Seasons'. There is a thread from a few days ago in this section. Maybe look at that.

Great. Thanks I will.

Sorry it was in the Mk2 section, i bumped that thread.

1 hour ago, Hillybill said:

What I wonder is, should I be looking at an All Season tyre for better safety in the Winter months?

Don't forget if you go for All Season tyres you will need a set of four all round.

I run two cars with all season tyres on them all year round.

Thanks. AG Falco

Look carefully at how good winter/all season tyres are in the wet. Some are shocking. Sons got GT radial all season and plenty of grip in wet plus pretty good in snow/cold weather. I generally like to have the same tyres on each axle but have had mixed before with no problems on the rear. Would still match the front ones though.

Alasdair

I’ve had Goodyear all seasons on several cars including my old Octavia scout, SLK230 and Auris hybrid. I’ve been delighted with the cold and wet weather performance.

Personally I would match all 4 tyres if possible, the problem with the 16” Fabia tyres is that it’s a very expensive size. A while ago I priced up a set of 15” steels with cross climates for my Fabia - they were about the same price as just the 16” tyres

A good midrange 16” summer tyre is the Khumo HS51 or 52. They are around half the price of the all seasons.

Mark

Now there are CrossClimate & Crossclimate +, & 2,s & 3,s and others, and prices are all over the place. New versions from other brands also, so last generations can be cheap. There are bargains all over for all sorts.

A lot of people rave about Cross Climates, however when I've tried them on my car, I wasn't impressed with their wet performance, especially when worn. Quite a few all season tyre tests criticise the wet performance of them too. I am currently running Pirelli and a pair or warn Goodyear all seasons and can't fault them. The Pirelli all seasons have won tyre tests for the last 2 years.

As I always say, buy the best tyres you can afford, remember it's the only thing that touches the road!

Edited 14 December, 202514 Dec by Jim H

@Jim H what year was that, and the original CrossClimates? Lots of evolution has happened since 2015. After how many miles of use were they worn and lost performance in the wet? Different sizes, smaller sizes as some fitted to Fabia had less tyre tread depth when new. Guest_ is Me in this thread. I have had each type of CrossClimate on various vehicles in various sizes, The CrossClimate SUV,s were poor, but then they were wide even though i had gone down to 265,s rather than 285,s

Edited 14 December, 202514 Dec by Evolution13

I was talking about tyres for my current car, a 2018 Fiesta. 205/45 17s. They were the older Cross Climate +. I'd love to try the Cross climate 3 to see if/how much they've improved but currently they don't do that size (205/40 & 205/50, but not 205/45!).

As for milage CC+, around 32k miles, mostly on front, but swapped to rear in winter. Goodyears, currently an impressive 38k miles, but mostly on the rear. I need to replace them next month before the MOT in Feb. I remember I once only got 8k miles out of a pair of Rainsport 3s in my mk1 Fabia . However I'm guessing my 1.0l Ecoboost is much lighter than the old 1.9 TDI lump.

Edited 14 December, 202514 Dec by Jim H

I doubt the Cross Climate 3 i have are any better than CrossClimate 2,s. They are no better than Maxxis AP3,s IMO. I have had many many tyres over 5 decades of winters in Scotland and very seldom does paying the cost of the most expensive tyres mean you have better tyres. I pay to get good tyres and get trade discounts. I am prepared to take off new tyres and give them away if they turn out to be crap for the car used on or the way it is used. I never run the new 'Summer Tyres' that come fitted to new cars. Worst ever i thought were the Primacy 4 that came on a Corsa Electric until i got a Mini Electric on Goodyear Eagle F1 sports. High Performance, but only on warm dry roads, not even cold dry roads and certainly not damp roads.

Edited 14 December, 202514 Dec by Evolution13

I used to run separate wheels and tyres for winter, but as others have mentioned the wet weather performance of winter tyres is usually fairly poor. I looked at all-season tyres, but again the stopping distances in the wet and not good. I've just decided to go with Michelin Primacy tyres on our Fabia as they are excellent in both dry and wet conditions. For the number of snow days we get a year now it's just not worth going all-season. The challenge the tyre manufacturers have is that the sipes required for snow compromises the wet weather performance, so they are kind of stuck really. It's also unfortunate that Fabia/Polo tyre size is one of the most expensive.

I agree with the stoping distance. Some are as previously said shocking. Guy at our local tyre service told me that on budget and some lower priced mid range tyres its the manufacturer that states the tyre data so can be listed as better than they actually are. I found out when I fitted budget tyres to get car through MOT. Brand new and first wet roundabout went straight on instead of turning. (wasnt going that fast at all) Took them back and he fitted mid range GT radial with no probs so far. Kept the cheap ones as spares. Dont buy Comforser!!

Alasdair

Michelin Primacy 4 in 16 or 17 " are damn pathetic in damp, wet or cold. They are fitted to lots of PHEV / BEV,s from Stellantis & others. Poor traction / friction so better range from the cars. Poor performance. I have 4 stored with 100 miles on them, taken off iin 2020as hopeless. 205/45 R17. Free to anyone that wants rubbish tyres. As to less snow, maybe not just down south, but up north there is plenty frosts, and ice, and the snow is coming next week.

I find as well that cheaper tyres seem to lose their traction after about a year even with good tread depth. Rubber if it is actually rubber goes hard before tyres even half worn. They are also prone to cracking etc. Have a set of old school dunlop on an old car. They must be at least 20 years old and no visible cracking and they still hold air.

Alasdair

I ran for 2 years on Michelin Alpin 6 with no wear in over 30,000 miles, and just replaced with Riken Snow tyres the 3rd Winter after bulging tyre walls and wrecking 2 of them. Riken another Michelin owned brand like TIGAR which i have also used all season and Winter for more than a decade on various cars including a Fabia vRS. The thing about the Alpin 6 was the tread depth new and Michelin are right about how they perform even when the tread is lower. Not that they did wear really until i took it to the 1/4 mile run what you bring just to kill them off. As to braking distances, i have read so much crap concerning that.

Edited 30 December, 202530 Dec by Evolution13

Had exactly the same with Michelin on my Seat altea. 80% tread but two had deformed and caused a major wobble felt through your seat plus signs of cracking between tread. No bulges but had an almost twist in the tyre. Tyre guy said he sees it a lot with Michelin considering there not the cheapest. They had never been repaired and were on the rear with no kerb damage etc. We agreed that best course of action was to dump them and fit 4 new as if two had gone the other two wouldnt be long. Last thing you need is a blow out.

Made me look at my trailer tyres. 90% tread but loads of cracking as well. It was an expensive week.

Alasdair

Both sets of wheels with tyres on are sitting in my store, hardly any use with the 17" and no wear on the 16" ones. I will probably not have another Mini to fit to but the tyres might be used sometime and then i will sell the wheels.

Edited 30 December, 202530 Dec by Evolution13

5 hours ago, Evolution13 said:

Michelin Primacy 4 in 16 or 17 " are damn pathetic in damp, wet or cold. They are fitted to lots of PHEV / BEV,s from Stellantis & others. Poor traction / friction so better range from the cars. Poor performance. I have 4 stored with 100 miles on them, taken off iin 2020as hopeless. 205/45 R17. Free to anyone that wants rubbish tyres. As to less snow, maybe not just down south, but up north there is plenty frosts, and ice, and the snow is coming next week.

I think you are mistaking it with an EV specific option, or some other tyre. The Primacy 4 gets excellent reviews cocerning wet weather performance. I've run them on a Polo and now our Fabia and it will cling on way beyone what I would expect (and the previous tyres) on my test roundabout. Aquaplaning resistance is also very good on this tyre. See example reivews below.

https://www.blackcircles.com/brands/michelin/primacy-4/185-60-r15-h-84?tyre=39311119

@CharlieH I am not mistaking them for an EV version. I have them out in the shed. & I have driven them on Kia's as well, petrol. hybrid and EV,s. Tests reviews can say what they like. If you use them and find no issues then good. 185's might be what makes a difference as far as aqua planing over 205, 215 or 225,s in 16 or 17" sizes. It must be a location location location thing, but actually up north the roads are finished to suit the weather and tend not to be prone to causing loss of traction in the wet or cold.

Funnily enough my son is taking the Fabia on a skid pan in a few weeks so I will report back as to how they performed .

I could have just tried the CrossClimate 3,s this morning. & there is not much salting / gritting going on out on the roads yet. That will change in the next 48 hours though. Double time for the Gritter drivers hopefully.

This is a really good tyre comparison website. https://www.tyrereviews.com/Compare/AllSeasonContact-2-VS-CrossClimate-2.htm

I’ve copied it from a post I made in the Karoq section. You can compare any tyre against any other tyre, so for example to get the All Season with better wet weather rating than snow if that’s more relevant to you. I enddd up putting Continental Contact All Season on the Fabia as the wet rating was better than Cross Climates which were better in snow. Wet roads being more common than snow in Buckinghamshire.

My wife's car travels between England and Scotland. I ran a set of Goodyear Vector 4Seasons on my wife's car and was very pleased with them: good tyre life, wet weather and snow performance. I then replaced them with a set of Continental winter tyres for optimum snow performance; the performance in heavy rain/snow is great but they are noisy, but not unbearably so, on dry roads. When they need changed again, I will revert to Vector 4Seasons.

I found that Michelin CrossClimate did not have the correct load factor for my wife's car: it needed 91V and Michelin's was 94V.

(PS Hillybill above refers to "Uniroyal" - the factory was in Newbridge in Scotland. They were taken over by Continental, then Continental opened a factory in Roumania and six years later closed Newbridge in about the year 2000. I think 1500 were made redundant and had to take what jobs they could find in the East of Scotland. The management asked the redundant workforce for volunteers to work in Roumania and train them in how to use the relocated machinery: not a single person volunteered and, as it was told to me, they told the management to put their offer "where the sun doesn't shine". (If you have a really long memory, it was previously the North British Rubber Company in Fountainbridge, Edinburgh (I remember the old single-storey buildings that lasted into the 1970s), before being moved to Newbridge in the 1960s.)